Smoking. What a
disgusting habit. Not only is it dangerous to the person inducing the toxic
chemicals, but it is the nicotine that is giving the person a hard time to
quit. The question is how is the nicotine causing a person to stay addicted to
this habit?
On
February 23rd we had Dr. Dan McGehee come talk to us at our weekly
Neuroscience Seminar at Loyola University-Chicago. The research that he
presented for us was his work on how nicotine changes the synaptic strength of
a neuron and the effect that nicotine has on long-term potentiation otherwise
known as LTP. When it comes to nicotine, it can be induced through various
forms like chewing tobacco, cigarettes, cigars and hookah (the “healthier
alternative”), but nicotine in any way, shape or form is a major addictive
substance. Dr. McGehee discussed with us how nicotine activates nicotinic
receptors (nAChRs), which then, at a cellular level, begins changes at the
ventral tegmental area (VTA). The VTA is not only affected by nicotine, but by
other drugs as well. In their laboratory, nicotine also facilitates LTP in the
VTA dopamine (DA) neurons and this increases the levels of glutamate release by
nAChRs. This piece of evidence showed that nicotine has a presynaptic
contribution in LTP induction. Also, when nicotine is present in the body,
there is a change in synaptic strength of the dopaminergic neurons and this
change in synaptic strength is long term, not short. Which leaves the
possibility that this change can be undone, but only if there is no nicotine
being induced anymore. Since dopaminergic neurons are located in the VTA, that
means this area is the main source where addiction resides This allows us
to better understand that if there is nicotine present in the VTA, this will
cause long-term synaptic strength issues and keep the addiction of
smoking present.
The
research led by Dr. McGehee made me question whether switching to an
e-cigarette would be a healthier alternative for smokers as well as an
alternative to cut down or quit smoking in the future? The answer to both of
those questions is a short and simple, no. In an article “Are e-cigarettes
safer than regular cigarettes,” it says that the key difference in e-cigarettes
is that it doesn’t contain tobacco, but that does not mean that it doesn’t
contain harmful toxic chemicals. E-cigarettes contain formaldehyde, a chemical
that is known to cause cancer in humans. A lot of the chemical that are in
these e-cigarettes lead to the same health issues as regular cigarettes, like
chronic inflammation, emphysema and heart disease. E-cigarettes will cause harm
to your body either way, but how will they make you quit? They wont. Many
e-cigarettes contain nicotine and that is the main point that Dr. McGhee was
stressing about in his research study. Whether nicotine is consumed in tobacco
form or e-cigarette form, nicotine is nicotine and it will change the synaptic
strength of the dopaminergic neurons in the VTA and it will keep the addiction
present in a person. Also, a study done at the University of California, San
Diego, said that smoking e-cigarettes is nowhere near healthier than smoking
regular cigarettes. There is evidence that e-cigarettes containing nicotine or
no nicotine caused cell damage. Researchers created an extract from the e-cigarette
smoke and used it to treat human cells in lab, but this experiment failed. The
exposed cells to the smoke developed DNA damage. The e-cigarettes free of
nicotine caused a 50 % more DNA strand break, but the e-cigarettes that
contained nicotine had an increase of three folds over eight weeks despite
non-nicotine e-cigarettes. As Professor Jessica Wang-Rodriquez from University
of California said, “Based on the evidence to date I believe they are no better
than smoking regular cigarettes.”
Although
these articles were very much different, in the end they all conveyed one
message and that message is that nicotine is an addictive substance. Even
though e-cigarettes are electronic and cigarettes are from tobacco, both of
these substances will harm you and they will keep you addicted despite the fact
that e-cigarettes are supposed to be a “healthier” choice. No mater how much
nicotine you induce, big or small, the synaptic strength of your dopaminergic
neurons will change and you will have a higher chance to be addicted to
cigarettes. Even if you think that e-cigarettes will make you quit, they won’t.
They will affect your health just like a regular cigarette.
Citations:
Mao, D., Gallagher, K., McGehee, D.
“Nicotine Potentiation of Excitatory Inputs to Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine
Neurons.” The Journal of Neuroscience 31. 18 (2011): 6710-6720. Print.
France
De Brave, Brandel, Sarah Miller, and Jessica Becker. "Are E-cigarettes
Safer than Regular Cigarettes?" Stopcancerfund.org.
2015. Web. 3 May 2016.
Knapton,
Sarah. "E-cigarettes Are No Safer than Smoking Tobacco, Scientists
Warn." Http://www.telegraph.co.uk.
29 Dec. 2015. Web. 3 May 2016.
With e liquid store online, nothing associated with the particular 4,000 deadly chemicals found in classic smoking cigarettes are produced because you don't have smoke... not a single thing actually burning. No smoke means no tar, carbon dioxide monoxide, etc.
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